Ministry of Health: Two Assault Cases at Soungard Hospital Unrelated

The Deputy Minister of Health confirmed the 'attack by malicious individuals' on medical staff and the beating of a pregnant woman at Shahid Chamran Hospital in Soungard, emphasizing that these two incidents were unrelated and that the situation involving the pregnant woman was a 'family dispute.' On Wednesday, December 25, the Tasnim news agency reported, citing a doctor from Chamran Hospital, that on Tuesday evening 'family members of a pregnant woman' assaulted her in the emergency department of Shahid Chamran Hospital in Soungard, and 'due to the absence of police officers,' the attack on the emergency department continued. The unnamed doctor added that 'at 1:45 AM [on Wednesday], malicious individuals, who were also in a drunken and abnormal state, attacked the emergency department again, and this time I, a nurse, and a staff member were severely beaten.' The doctor stated that these individuals filmed the assault on the hospital staff and when he attempted to take their mobile phone, he was 'beaten' and his clothes were torn. The injured doctor claimed that 'strange behaviors from some individuals are observed in these areas, to the extent that they even enter the hospital with Kalashnikovs, and there is no one to stop them.' However, the Shahrvand newspaper provided a different account of the incident, stating that on Tuesday evening, two men attacked a pregnant woman who was 'sitting on a bench in the hospital,' and both returned a few hours later to 'assault the doctor and nurse as well.' Nevertheless, according to Khabar Online, Iraj Harirchi, the Deputy Minister of Health, announced on Thursday in response to these reports that the two incidents were unrelated. According to Mr. Harirchi, the 'incident' involving the pregnant woman in the hospital was a 'family dispute' and had no connection to the attack on the hospital staff. One person was arrested in connection with the assault. Meanwhile, according to IRNA news agency, Emad Sharifi, the director of the health network in Soungard County, stated that early on Wednesday, three companions of a patient who 'were not in a normal condition' filmed the doctor during the examination and treatment of the patient with their mobile phone, creating problems in the hospital with insults and mockery towards the doctor. According to Mr. Sharifi, 'the doctor attempted to take the mobile phone from the companions, which led to a physical altercation, and after the arrival of police forces, those individuals fled with the patient,' and ultimately the patient and one of their companions were arrested. He mentioned that this patient had been taken to the hospital due to an accident.